STORIES

ISSUE 123 Friday 25th SEPTEMBER, 2015
EDITORIAL
By Publisher
JACK WARNER
The new Parliament
of Trinidad
and Tobago will
convene on Wednesday
under the administration
of the People’s National
Movement (PNM).
Once again, just as on
the night of 7 September
2015, the nation will
exhale freely in anticipation
of a Parliament that
will, for one more time,
be marked with a sense of
decorum.
Gone will be what history
will record as probably
the worst and most
prejudiced of all Speakers
to rule in our House of
Representatives.
And many will rejoice
at having seen the back of
Citizen Wade Mark, his
MBA et al.
The Honourable Dr.
Keith Rowley must be
cognisant of the fact that
the nation has already positioned
him on a pedestal
and expects to see many
changes as his Government
takes charge of our
House.
Already, there is talk that
this Parliament may very
well be the best behaved
and the wajang behaviour
to which our Parliament
condescended over the
past five years will be no
more.
There are expectations
that the high and lofty
standards, which ought
to be the hallmark of the
highest court of the land,
will prevail.
The country Mr. Prime
Minister is depending on
you.
Many are stating that
given the very favourable
start that the Honourable
Dr. Keith Rowley has initiated
since his ascendancy
to prime ministerial office
that for the first time the
Mr. PRIME MINISTER
Dr. KEITH ROWLEY
views of the Opposition
will be welcomed and respected
even though many
in the society would have
liked the Prime Minister
to reciprocate in kind the
treatment meted out to his
party and to him especially
by the previous government
these past five years.
Many are also eagerly
awaiting the start of Parliament
but the expectations
are high and it is here
that most expect to see if
the Honourable Dr. Keith
Rowley is really ready to
govern.
A shopping list from the
man on the street suggests
that the people of Trinidad
and Tobago may have a
different agenda from the
Government’s.
It is here however that
the Honourable Dr. Keith
Rowley needs to bring the
nation together in discussion
to ensure that a chasm
does not exist between the
Government and the people.
During the past five
years, no gap analysis
was done that would have
informed the People’s
Partnership that they had
slipped off track.
If that was done, Lifesport
would have died in
childbirth, Vernella Alleyne-Toppin
would never
have stood up and desecrated
our hallowed halls
with her vitriol and Government
would never have
debated to put the then Opposition
Leader out of the
Parliament.
But they lost touch, yes,
they lost touch badly.
They got caught up with
the maxim that suggests,
“Parliament is so transcending
that what Parliament
does no power on
earth can undo.”
These words of Lord
Acton never reminded
them about the power of
the people which can take
many a politician from the
high citadels upon which
A word of advice to…
they stand and so the People’s
Partnership passed
away unmourned on 7
September 2015.
The Honourable Dr.
Keith Rowley must never
allow his Government to
bring our Parliament to
such a low level and he
must always be reminded
about the sad end that such
action brought to the People’s
Partnership Government.
So what do the people
expect?
From you Prime Minister,
the people want an
honest Parliament that legislates
with integrity and
serves the people.
If the economy is bad
tells us it is bad.
Do not pad the figures
of the budget to give us a
sense of security when you
know that what we need
are belt-tightening measures.
Don’t lie like Larry
Howai and tell us the economy
has grown while the
statistics prove a decline
regardless how drastic it
may be.
So the people expect that
the Parliament will provide
rigid truthful financial
oversight and that this role
of Parliament will not be
usurped or corrupted by
your Cabinet of the day.
Mr. Prime Minister, the
people want to see the
Parliament enacting legislation
that will make the
lives of our people comfortable.
The last administration
had no structured or well
planned legislative agenda.
They attempted to use
the Parliament of Trinidad
and Tobago to suit their
own financiers as Section
34 suggests and gain political
advantage in elections.
This must never be done.
We expect to see our
Parliamentarians as lawmakers,
passing good law
to benefit the national
community as a whole and
not legislation with sectoral
interests.
Mr. Prime Minister, we
want to see the Parliament
of Trinidad and Tobago
hold your Government to
account.
A number of electoral
promises were made on the
campaign trail; promises
that triggered expectations
and some of them may be
too difficult to meet and if
having now examined the
state of the Treasury and
it is realised that some of
the electoral promises are
difficult to meet then tell
us so.
The Parliament should
therefore be used in this regard
as “facetime” to communicate
with voters and
develop the kind of relationship
where our people
can trust our Parliament
once again.
The last administration
tinkered with constitutional
reform for their own
ends but you Mr. Prime
Minister must initiate true
constitutional reform in
the national interest and
one can suggest that you
should start with Local
Government reform owing
to the immediacy of the
Local Government elections.
Private Members’ Day
should not be treated with
the disrespect that the People’s
Partnership showed
regardless of how frivolous
and vexatious some of
their motions may be to the
Government.
Your administration
needs to be bigger and better
and should engage the
opposition in meaningful
debate.
Prime Minister, give to
Parliamentary Committees
more autonomy to conduct
policy research and hold
public consultations to assist
them in doing the people’s
work and ensuring
that best practice informs
their guidance and decision
making.
Page 7
PM Dr. KEITH ROWLEY...poised to govern with a
straight hand
This was a rushed budget
and I sympathize with
you as most people do but
in future let us not make
the budget this big secret
like previous administrations.
Let us study the Canadian
model and let us have
feedback from citizens
and civil society groups
to ensure that we all come
to the table with the same
agenda.
Under the People’s Partnership
administration,
Mr. Prime Minister, the
people of Trinidad and Tobago
felt a sense of alienation
from the Parliament.
Probably, it is the environment
that demeaned the
forum quality that it possessed
and as a result the
people hope that a permanent
home for our Parliament
would be built where
parliamentarians can once
again feel proud to articulate
and citizens to listen to
the richness of opinion a la
our Red House.
Your plate is full Mr.
Prime Minister, the previous
administration was so
corrupt and misguided that
there is a demand for radical
change in every department
of the citizens’ life
and the task seems almost
insurmountable.
But you have started well
and to a large extent how
the House of Representatives
functions will determine
the quality of your
Government and whether
the confidence reposed in
you was well placed.
It was the arrogance of
the last administration in
Parliament that brought
the then Prime Minister to
tears on the night of 7 September
2015; a night she
will never forget.
So above all, practise
the humility, which so far
has been a hallmark of
your leadership and lift our
country out of the oppression
and bondage, which
weighed heavy on our soul
these past 5 years.
There is much optimism
in your leadership. I believe
it is here in the Parliament
that the nation will
judge whether you will
succeed or fail.
May God bless you with
wisdom to lead our land
righteously and may God
bless our nation.